roasted squash and chickpeas with tahina

roasted squash and chickpeas with tahina

as a kid, being an almost-vegetarian at my mom’s home meant that i would get to learn to appreciate healthy stuff. like veggies, of course, and wholemeal. and pulses, too. and luckily, ever since, chickpeas and i have been really great friends.

on a recent night, i felt the urge to eat chickpeas in their pure form. i decided a combination with squash would be lovely. for one, squashes are back in the stores. hooray! also, in envisioned that the textures of both the chickpeas and the squash would have to complement each other perfectly. they did!

roasted squash and chickpeas salad with tahina dressing

adapted from ottolenghi (again! i’m obsessed! shhh!)

serves four

ingredients:

1 medium sized squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped in cubes

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well under running water

1 garlic clove, minced

4 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. salt

pepper

1 handful cilantro, chopped

for the tahina dressing:

3 tbsp. tahina (sesame paste)

3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp. greek joghurt

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

salt

directions:

preheat the oven to 220 degrees (fahrenheit). first, put the squash cubes in a bowl, to combine with the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. distribute evenly on a baking tray (with parchment paper), and roast in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until the squash cubes are dark brown and slightly charred around the edges. take out of the oven and set aside to cool down a bit.

mix all the dressing ingredients together. the consistency should be something between a yogurt and olive oil. if you need it more liquid, add more lemon juice or olive oil. the other way round, add yogurt to thicken.

combine, carefully, the roasted squash and chickpeas. add a few drizzles of olive oil. pour the tahina dressing over the veggies / pulses. sprinkle with chopped cilantro*.

* re. chopping herbs: i’m so, so bad at chopping herbs. i mean, i’m always afraid of chopping my finger… which happened, a few times, i guess. but other than that, my chopping skills are simply shameful. so i’m asking you (no, i’m pleading) you, dear readers: do you by any chance happen to know any secrets to chopping herbs? like, the right knife (probably…) or the perfect technique? if so, i’d be delighted if you’d share your secrets with me. you’re awesome!